one short paragraph 10 12 sentences

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ZOOM

Academic Summaries

Academic summaries are one way writers account for the ideas of others in their own

writing. They tell the main point of the source material in condensed form. They can

range in length from a few sentences or short paragraph to an entire essay, depending

on the length of the source material. When writing a summary, you must select the main

points of the text, and express them in your own words. The most important part of

summary writing is to carefully credit the ideas to the original writer, not yourself as the

writer of the summary. Remember that the purpose of a summary is to accurately

express the ideas of another writer. You must be extremely careful that you do not imply

that the ideas are yours.

Academic summaries typically answer the

following three questions:

1.

What is the author’s main idea or argument?

2.

What are the author’s main claims?

3.How does the author support the main idea or argument?

4.Why did the author write the text?

5.To whom did the author write the text?

Summary Tips:

Remember that the goal of your summary is to give a concise, specific overview of a text for

someone who has not read that text.

Include a bit of context about the text early on in your summary. Mention what kind of text it

is, when/where it was published, etc.

Use author-focused language; refer to the author’s full name first, and then his/her last

name thereafter.

Explain the what/how/why of the text in your own words (minimal use of quotes).

Be specific as possible. If your summary can work for any other text, it is too broad.

Academic Summary, “The Moral Instinct”

The

purpose

of this writing workshop is to help you write a summary. Your summary should be detailed

enough so that a person who has not read the text can tell specifically what kind of text it is and what it

is about.

STEP 1: Brainstorm

Answer the following questions about the text, ( 10-12 sentences)
What is the author’s name, the title of the text, and the genre? (don’t forget to put the title of the text in quotation marks)

In page 1 of the article.

2. What is the author’s main idea or argument? (1-2 sentences)

Paragraph 65

3. What are the author’s sub-claims?

Chart

4. How does the author support that main idea or argument? (What kinds of evidence does he provide?) Research, experiments, and hypothetical examples

Research

5. Why did the author write the text? (what is the author’s purpose?)

Reconsider how we think morality sense

6. Who is the target audience?

Educated, weaning, middle class